I read a prayer from King David that was not in the Psalms and found this unique relationship between God’s word, His promises and prayer.

Then King David went into the Tent of the Lord’s presence, sat down and prayed, “Sovereign Lord, I am not worthy of what you have already done for me, nor is my family. Yet now you are doing even more, Sovereign Lord; you have made promises about my descendants in the years to come. And you let a man see this,^[b] Sovereign Lord! What more can I say to you! You know me, your servant. It was your will and purpose to do this; you have done all these great things in order to instruct me. How great you are, Sovereign Lord! There is none like you; we have always known that you alone are God. There is no other nation on earth like Israel, whom you rescued from slavery to make them your own people. The great and wonderful things you did for them^[c] have spread your fame throughout the world. You drove out^[d] other nations and their gods as your people advanced, the people whom you set free from Egypt to be your own. You have made Israel your own people forever, and you, Lord, have become their God.

“And now, Lord God, fulfill for all time the promise you made about me and my descendants, and do what you said you would. Your fame will be great, and people will forever say, ‘The Lord Almighty is God over Israel.’ And you will preserve my dynasty for all time. Lord Almighty, God of Israel! I have the courage to pray this prayer to you, because you have revealed all this to me, your servant, and have told me that you will make my descendants kings.

“And now, Sovereign Lord, you are God; you always keep your promises, and you have made this wonderful promise to me. I ask you to bless my descendants so that they will continue to enjoy your favor. You, Sovereign Lord, have promised this, and your blessing will rest on my descendants forever.” – 2 Samuel 7:18-29 GNT

What a prayer based on a promise that God made about his descendants. This courage to pray came from the awareness of God’s blessing in his life. A relationship of promises received and an expression of why it is that I pray. When I pray, I do lean on God’s promises and I find when I do I pray courageous prayers.

David burst’s out in praise. Praise keeps me from ‘drive-by’ prayers. Then he enters into a time of petition where he makes his request known to the Father. There is this confidence that the Father wants and desires to bless His people. The Father has my best interest in mind and is willing to give His all for His people, even His Son all the way to the cross. I am afraid that maybe my culture and definitely my sin cause me to look a prayer to such an awesome God for granted.

If I only prayed with movng lips and with a tongue that creates words, I would not be pleasing God. Prayer is found in my heart which I need to lift up and pour out to Him. I rely with unshaken faith on the truth of everything God has said and expect to receive all that He has promised. Even though I see ‘asks’ in this prayer, I think they are overflowings of a grateful heart, touched with a sense of the greatness of God’s mercy.

“His heart was wholly possessed with a subject which he did not know how to quit, because he did not know how to do justice to his own sense of the inestimable blessings poured down upon himself, and promised to his posterity; and much less to the infinite bounty of his benefactor.” – Delaney

We see what David could only imagine – Jesus rose from the dead, sits at the right hand of God and sits on the throne forever. What an answer to a prayer.

Davis lays out a biblical theology of meditation on the Scripture. He does so by thinking out the implications of serveral key biblical-theological themes and doctrines. He strikes a rare balance, being positive about spiritual experience yet cautious about method of meditation from Eastern religions as well as from eastern Orthodoxy and Catholicism that, in his view, do not do sufficient justice to the authourity of the Word and the freeness of grace. – Timothy Keller – Davis, John Jefferson, Meditation and communion with God: Contemplating Scripture in an Age of Distraction